Gleanings — §198

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 198 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

قل یا ملأ البیان إنّا اختصصناكم لعرفان نفسنا بین العالمین وقرّبناكم إلی شاطئ الأیمن عن یمین بقعة الفردوس مقام الّذي فیه تنطق النّار علی كلّ الألحان بأنّه لا إله إلّا أنا العليّ العظیم إیّاكم أن لا تحتجبوا أنفسكم عن هذه الشّمس الّتي استضآءت عن أفق مشیّة ربّكم الرّحمن بضیآء الّذي أحاط كلّ صغیر وكبیر أن افتحوا أبصاركم لتشهدوها بعیونكم ولا تعلّقوا أبصاركم بذي بصر لأنّ الله ما كلّف نفسًا إلّا بعد وسعها وكذلك نزل في كلّ الألواح علی النّبیّین والمرسلین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: O people of the Bayán! We have chosen you out of the world to know and recognize Our Self. We have caused you to draw nigh unto the right side of Paradise — the Spot out of which the undying Fire crieth in manifold accents: “There is none other God besides Me, the All-Powerful, the Most High!” Take heed lest ye allow yourselves to be shut out as by a veil from this Daystar that shineth above the dayspring of the Will of your Lord, the All-Merciful, and whose light hath encompassed both the small and the great. Purge your sight, that ye may perceive its glory with your own eyes, and depend not on the sight of anyone except yourself, for God hath never burdened any soul beyond its power. Thus hath it been sent down unto the Prophets and Messengers of old, and been recorded in all the Scriptures.

Translation Notes

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “people” Distinctive

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

البیان

b-y-n → “of the Bayán”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

إنّا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اختصصناكم

kh-ṣ-ṣ → “singled out” Distinctive

literal: specific matter; particularity; especially; in this matter

لعرفان

ʿ-r-f → “to know and recognize”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

نفسنا

n-f-s → “Our Self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “out of the world” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وقرّبناكم

q-r-b → “nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

شاطئ

sh-ṭ-ʾ

literal: fitting; suitable; becoming

الأیمن

y-m-n → “the right side”

literal: right hand; oath; right side

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

بقعة

b-q-ʿ → “Spot”

literal: place; spot; ground; locality

الفردوس

f-r-d-w-s → “of Paradise”

literal: Paradise; garden; the highest paradise

مقام

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الّذي

l-dh-y → “out of which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

تنطق

n-ṭ-q → “crieth”

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

النّار

n-ʾ-r → “the undying Fire”

literal: light; illumination

كلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الألحان

l-ḥ-n → “melody” Distinctive

literal: melodies; songs; tunes

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: end; hereafter; other

العليّ

ʿ-l-w → “the All-Powerful” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

العظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most High” Distinctive

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

إیّاكم

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: beware; take heed; woe to you

تحتجبوا

ḥ-j-b → “veil” Distinctive

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

هذه

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; this (masculine); this (feminine)

الشّمس

sh-m-s → “Daystar”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which/that; which

استضآءت

ḍ-w-ʾ → “shineth”

literal: evening; night

أفق

ʾ-f-q → “above the dayspring” Distinctive

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

مشیّة

sh-y-ʾ → “of the Will”

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk

ربّكم

r-b-b → “of your Lord”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

أحاط

ḥ-w-ṭ → “hath encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

صغیر

ṣ-gh-r → “young”

literal: small; children; the young

وكبیر

k-b-r → “and the great”

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

افتحوا

f-t-ḥ → “open”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

أبصاركم

b-ṣ-r → “your sight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

لتشهدوها

sh-h-d → “that ye may perceive”

literal: witness; observation; witnessed

بعیونكم

ʿ-y-n → “with your own eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

ولا

w-l-y → “and”

literal: friend; lord; guardian

تعلّقوا

ʿ-l-q → “dependent” Distinctive

literal: suspended; attachment; hang

بذي

dh-w-y

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

لأنّ

ʾ-n → “for” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

ما

m-ʾ

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

كلّف

k-l-f → “hath never burdened”

literal: burden/charge

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

وسعها

w-s-ʿ → “contain” Distinctive

literal: vast; extensive; infinite; to encompass

وكذلك

k-dh-l → “Thus”

literal: that; thus; likewise

نزل

n-z-l → “hath it been sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

في

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

الألواح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

النّبیّین

n-b-y

literal: prophet; prophets

والمرسلین

r-s-l → “and Messengers of old”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Prayers and Meditations

Bahá’u’lláh

Published in 1938, this companion volume to Gleanings contains 184 prayers and meditations selected by Shoghi Effendi from Bahá’u’lláh’s devotional writings revealed across successive exiles from Baghdad to ‘Akká. Shoghi Effendi described it as a volume whose perusal would deepen the spirit of devotion and faith.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶